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Editorial

Better policing

Columbus officers find new ways to serve, protect public

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Thursday July 31, 2014 5:38 AM

Columbus police officers demonstrate their bravery and dedication every day. But they also are
resourceful at finding new ways to protect the public and save lives, even though it means taking
on even more responsibility.

Two recent
Dispatch stories underscore this. In the first instance, an officer who had served two
tours of duty in Afghanistan realized that medical techniques troops learn to save wounded comrades
on the battlefield also could save lives on the streets back home.

Homicide Det. Chad Williams proposed training officers in tactical first aid: When a person is
grievously injured, every second counts in stopping the bleeding. It can save an arm, a leg or a
life.

Last fall, Columbus officers and other employees were taught how to use tourniquets and apply
specialized bandages to staunch bleeding until paramedics arrive.

Within weeks, this training made a difference. On Nov. 16, three police officers quickly started
treatment on a 19-year-old found on a South Side street with gunshot wounds to his arm and chest.
Reggie Thorpe made it to a hospital in critical condition and survived.

Days later, on Nov. 22, police again used field first-aid on one of their own. SWAT Officer
Steve Smith was shot in a standoff on the Northeast Side with a child-killer. Other officers
immediately tended to Smith, applying the proper seal-bandage for his abdominal wound.

“I was very impressed with the professionalism and the skills that these officers used,” he
added.

The next step is for every Columbus police cruiser to be equipped with a pack that contains the
specialized bandages and tourniquets. Meanwhile, some officers already have their own kits; others
are carrying tourniquets on their belts.

Officers often are the first to reach the scene of a car accident or a violent attack. This
training no doubt will save many more lives.

In the second story, WBNS-TV (Channel 10) reported that Columbus police have turned to an
unusual group of consultants for ideas to thwart break-ins; they’re interviewing convicted burglars
at Marion and Chillicothe correctional institutions.

Who better to ask for tips?

Videotapes of the sessions will be posted on the Columbus Police Division’s YouTube channel,
allowing the division to help people all over the world keep their families and property safe.

Officer Norm Russell, a former Hilltop community liaison office now at the Columbus Police
Training Academy, is to be commended for coming up with this project.

“If you’re knocking on the door (to see if someone is home), and a dog starts barking, we’re
moving on to the next place,” inmate Joel David Hamlin told the police. Burglars hate anything that
might alert neighbors.

Hamlin, 36, is serving an eight-year sentence until January 2017. He’s spent half his life
behind bars, having started stealing in his teens; he figures his victims number in the
hundreds.

But he’s getting an opportunity to make amends for his crimes by cooperating in the video
interviews. This is an excellent idea, one that like many originated with an officer wanting to
better serve residents.